At Least 2 Killed In Air Attack On Kyiv, Mayor Says After Progress Reported In Talks To End Conflict

By RFE/RL April 24, 2025

At least two people were killed in Kyiv in an overnight missile attack only hours after officials said there was progress toward a resolution of the conflict during negotiations in London between representatives of US, Europe, and Ukraine.

In addition to the two fatalities, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 54 were wounded in the missile attack.

Of these, 38 people, including six children, were hospitalized, he said, adding that the rest of the wounded were treated at the scene. He said earlier on Telegram that residents of one building were under rubble as fires and falling debris were reported.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov also reported an attack on the city in northeastern Ukraine, saying on Telegram that seven missiles hit the city. Terekhov later warned that "a massive drone attack on the city continues."

The attacks began hours after the talks in London ended and after US President Donald Trump said he thinks he has reached a deal with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to settle the war.

"I think Russia is ready and a lot of people said Russia wanted to go for the whole thing. And I think we have a deal with Russia. We have to get a deal with Zelenskiy," Trump told reporters at the White House.

Trump also said he found it harder than expected to work with Zelenskyy.

"I thought it might be easier to deal with Zelenskyy. So far, it's been harder.... But, I think we have a deal with both. I hope they do it, because I'm looking to save and, you know, we spent a lot of money, but this is about a lot of humanity," Trump said.

Asked about reports of a US proposal that would see Crimea recognized as Russian territory, Trump said he had "no favorites" between Ukraine and Russia and that he just wanted the war to end.

Other administration officials said earlier on April 23 that a deal remained elusive and that the United States could walk away from peace talks in the absence of quick progress.

Zelenskyy, who has dismissed the proposal on Crimea, said emotions had "run high" in London but it was good that the representatives of five countries met.

"The American side shared its vision. Ukraine and other Europeans presented their inputs. And we hope that it is exactly such joint work that will lead to lasting peace," he said on X.

His post included a copy of a 2018 statement by then-US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo calling on Russia to end its occupation of Crimea and uphold the principle of not changing borders by force.

Trump warned Ukraine earlier on social media that it needs to make a deal to end the fighting while sharply criticizing Zelenskyy for saying Kyiv sees any recognition of Crimea as part of Russia is a red line for Ukraine.

"It's inflammatory statements like Zelenskyy's that makes it so difficult to settle this War," Trump said in a social media post in which he denied anyone is asking Ukraine recognize Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014, as Russian territory.

Late on April 23, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he met Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko Washington. A Treasury Department statement said Bessent stressed the need to sign an economic partnership between the two countries as soon as possible.

The statement noted that "the highly productive technical talks remain ongoing between the two sides."

The talks in London were already facing serious headwinds after top diplomats, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, pulled out, effectively downgrading the meeting.

A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said they involved "substantive technical meetings with European, US, and Ukrainian officials on how to stop the fighting" triggered by Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbor in 2022.

"We remain absolutely committed to securing a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and these talks today are an important part of that," the spokesperson said.

Keith Kellogg, Trump's envoy for Ukraine, assessed the talks as positive.

"It is time to move forward on President Trump's UKR-RU war directive: stop the killing, achieve peace, and put America first," Kellogg wrote on X.

The scrapping of a meeting between the top diplomats of Ukraine, the United States, Germany, France, and Britain highlighted the divide between the countries in finding a path to peace talk amid Trump's complaints of a lack of progress in the negotiations.

"I think we read it all the same way," one European diplomat, who asked not to be named, told RFE/RL. "It's the US one step further toward checking out."

"I see it as additional pressure on the Ukrainians: take it or leave it," another European diplomat told RFE/RL. '"We don't have time for you, we have other things to do."

Last week, Rubio and other Ukrainian and European officials met in Paris for talks that yielded what many saw was minor progress toward a resolution of the war.

But Rubio later signaled US impatience with the status of the talks and suggested the United States might pull out entirely from all involvement in the negotiations.

Speaking to reporters on April 23 during a trip to India, US Vice President JD Vance said Washington had issued a "very explicit proposal" to Russia and Ukraine, though he gave no details.

"It's time for them to either say yes or for the United States to walk away from this process," Vance said.

"The current lines, somewhere close to them is where you're ultimately, I think, going to draw the new lines in the conflict," he said.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/trump-ukraine-zelenskyy- war-russia-europe-starmer/33394907.html

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At Least 2 Killed In Air Attack On Kyiv, Mayor Says After Progress Reported In Talks To End Conflict